“It’s a Great Big Universe, and We’re All Really Puny”

Every now and then I remember how much I miss Yakko, Wakko, and Dot. I was a huge fan of Animaniacs, and, while my favorite segment was "Pinky and the Brain," there are some segments with the Warner brothers and the Warner sister that I still love. It hadn’t occurred to me until the other day to look for the educational songs they did on the show on YouTube so I could show them to my kids.

There are four songs that I still love: "The Presidents," "Yakko’s World," "Wakko’s America," and "Yakko’s Universe." Now, I’m quite aware that they all have slight inaccuracies—even "Yakko’s Universe," with Pluto’s recent recategorization as a dwarf planet—owing to errors at the time they were made or things that have changed with time. But so long as you’re aware of the problems, and most of them are pretty obvious (like the fact that "The Presidents" ends with Bill Clinton), I see nothing wrong with using them as a way of making learning fun.

The only thing to be careful of is that, if you’re anything like me, the chorus to "Yakko’s Universe" will get stuck in your head for days after watching it. You’ve been warned, so here are videos of all four, one before the jump and the other three after it. These were the best versions I could find of the many available. Enjoy!

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